The son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker has an op-ed up at CNN, co-written with a colleague, Marc Brown, in which he questions the politicization of Christianity by the political right:
What the hell happened? Where did we go wrong? How was Christianity co-opted by a political party? Why are Christians supporting laws that force others to live by their standards? The answers to these questions are integral to the survival of Christianity…
So when did the focus of Christianity shift from the unconditional love and acceptance preached by Christ to the hate and condemnation spewed forth by certain groups today? Some say it was during the rise of Conservative Christianity in the early 1980s with political action groups like the Moral Majority. Others say it goes way back to the 300s, when Rome’s Christian Emperor Constantine initiated a set of laws limiting the rights of Roman non-Christians. Regardless of the origin, one thing is crystal clear: It’s not what Jesus stood for.
His parables and lessons were focused on love and forgiveness, a message of “come as you are, not as you should be.” The bulk of his time was spent preaching about helping the poor and those who are unable to help themselves. At the very least, Christians should be counted on to lend a helping hand to the poor and others in need.
Having lived in Charlotte in the 1980s when the Bakkers were riding high, I have a soft spot for them and the glory days of 1980s kitsch they represent. They were objects of ridicule in the city. The fact that they operated the only nationwide television network in town got them nothing. They were considered to be buffoons and, in Jim’s case, both inept and corrupt.
Years before the sex scandal involving Jim and Jessica Hahn broke on March 19, 1987. the Charlotte Observer had been covering the PTL Network’s financial irregularities, but the Observer’s stories, and complaints from local officials, were ignored by both the Reagan Administration and the mainstream media.
As the scandals that brought them down unfolded, Tammy Faye became so upset by the hostility directed at her from Charlotteans that she commissioned a billboard advertising campaign with the headline, “Enough is enough.”
It was not enough, however. It would take her downfall before Charlotte had “enough” of the Bakkers. When their empire collapsed — Jim had been running a ponzi scheme, selling more timershares at the theme park to his followers than were available — the Queen City was soggy with Schadenfreud. The consensus was, they got what they deserved.
In the two decades since, Tammy Faye, who divorced Jim while he was still in prison, has redeemed herself. She has never been afraid to play with her own image, or to cry on Larry King’s show. She is the only former evangelist to embrace gay people. Her brand of Christianity tries very hard not to be the judge and jury on moral values. I’m sad to hear her health is not good.
She must be proud that Jay, who runs a ministry in New York City, is doing right by the family business.
H/t: Buck sent me this video.
Seems that once a religion gets a toehold on power, it never lets go. Which goes to show how vital the separation of church and state is to the pursuit of liberty and justice for all, let alone government that’s of, for and by the people. . . .
The way I have read history for a fairly long life time, it shows that HUMAN GREED for POWER, prestige, or material wealth will TRUMP the “ideals” of “super natural deities” every flipping time: for proof, check out the financial status of the Vatican, the American “MEGGACHURCHES” and their “FOUNDING FATHERS” and see just how much all of them have been able to amass…from free will donations” tax free status” and so on….